


save the princess

by carterhack



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Babysitting, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Five Year Old Tonks, Gen, It's better than canon tho, M/M, Remus and Sirius Are Seventeen, This isn't canon compliant that'd be so creepy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29987553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carterhack/pseuds/carterhack
Summary: Remus Lupin doesn't like babysitting, but maybe babysitting his boyfriend's baby cousin with him isn't so bad.
Relationships: Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	save the princess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fangirlamanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlamanda/gifts).



> uhh none of the characters or universe belong to me, unfortunately, they belong to jkr. however, idgaf and here's me making it better xoxo <3
> 
> this fic is for amanda (designated trash on tumblr) because she inspired the entire thing!
> 
> also pls for the love of god leave a comment if u like it i appreciate those more than you'll ever know
> 
> also warning: very very minor implied sex mention (it's like,, one joke but still i figured i should give a warning)

Remus Lupin didn’t like little kids. They were loud and obnoxious, and they were always asking way too many questions. Yes, he knew it was ironic considering his interest in becoming a professor, but kids his age and little kids were an entirely different thing. Five-year-olds, for instance, were way too much to handle, which is why he had no idea why he agreed to babysit his boyfriend’s cousin with him during their summer holiday. Maybe he was too nice.

“It won’t be that bad,” Sirius urged, smiling at him reassuringly. They were standing outside the Tonks’ house, no doubt about to enter a huge disaster. “She’s a good kid.” Remus, despite his adamant refusal to the evening, couldn’t argue with that. He had met Nymphadore quite a few times by now as the Tonks’ were the only blood relatives Sirius kept in contact with, and she was quite a sweet kid. She was rambunctious, yes, but she was also really strong for a toddler. She didn’t whine and cry as much as other kids, even when she was a baby Remus remembers her being less annoying than other babies. Still, he didn’t know how’d she be for a whole night without either of her parents.

“You owe me,” Remus mumbled as they walked to the porch. Sirius chuckled, knocking on the door with one hand and interlocking their fingers with the other. 

“Sirius, Remus!” The door swung open and they were greeted with a cheery-looking Ted Tonks. “Welcome,” He motioned for them to come in, stepping aside to give them room. Remus mumbled a hello, nodding his head as they scurried inside the home. 

“Thank you so much for coming,” Ted continued, fixing his tie. “We haven’t been out in a while, and I know it’s your holiday, so I appreciate it.” Remus wasn’t quite sure where the two of them were going, but the man was dressed in professional-looking muggle clothes.

“She’s mad we’re leaving,” Andromeda walked into the entrance room, sighing. Upon seeing Sirius, though, she broke out to a grin and she nudged his arm.

“You’re late,” She said before pulling the teenager into a hug. “But thanks for coming.”

“Stop thanking me,” Sirius waved the two of them off, hugging his cousin before pulling away. “We wanted to come. I missed my favorite cousin.” 

“I missed you, too,” Andromeda replied, patting his shoulder. It was a joke the two of them had, the favorite cousin thing. Obviously, the two didn’t talk to the rest of their family members let alone their other cousins. 

“I was actually not talking about you,” Sirius smirked, just in time for a five-year-old little girl to run in the room. Andromeda rolled her eyes, beaming as Sirius picked up the child. Her hair was a somber-looking blue, and her eyes were puffy. Remus watched silently, waiting for her to go off. Maybe he had only seen her on her good days, and she was whiny like every other young child.

“Aw, are you okay?” Sirius frowned, holding the girl to his chest. “What’s wrong?” She pouted, wrapping her hands around his neck. Remus smiled, slightly, at that. Sirius, unlike Remus, was quite good when it came to younger kids. 

“They’re leaving me,” She threw her head back, motioning towards her parents. Remus chuckled under her breath, watching as her mother came over and kissed her head. 

“Sirius and Remus are going to stay with you,” She smiled. “Be good for them.” She made grabby hands at her parents, now, and Ted stepped over and kissed her cheek.

“Love you, Dora,” He said. “We’ll be home soon.” Nymphadora pouted, puffing out her cheeks. Remus watched her, and he could have sworn her hair got bluer somehow if that were even possible. 

“Hey,” Sirius lifted her higher. “The three of us are going to have lots of fun!” He leaned forward, then, and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes brightened, and her hair shifted slightly to a more violet colour. 

“You better not do anything dumb,” Andromeda sighed, looking more relieved than anything. Remus figured it was probably nerve-wracking to leave a crying child with your reckless seventeen-year-old cousin and his werewolf boyfriend.

“I have never done anything dumb in my life,” Sirius sad back serenely, an evil glint in his eyes. Remus snorted, covering his mouth with his hand. Sirius gave him a desperate look, and Andromeda just laughed and shook her head.

“Have fun,” She blew her daughter a kiss then looked between the two boys. “And if you have sex in my house while babysitting my daughter I will kill you both.” She grinned then turned, she and her husband walking out the door before either of them could reply. Remus groaned, removing his hand from his face to look at Sirius, who was shaking with laughter, Nymphadora still in his arms. They were now alone with a five-year-old.

“Can I have it now?” The little girl said, pulling away to look at her cousin with wide eyes. Remus raised his eyebrows, not knowing what “it” was.

“Yep,” Sirius reached into his robes, pulling something out. It was a small, golden toy. Remus realized it was a golden snitch toy. Nymphadora grinned, clutching the toy in her tiny hands as it fluttered. 

“Woah,” She giggled, jumping out of Sirius’s arms and opening her plans, watching as the toy fluttered from her hands. Remus vaguely recalled playing with one of them at some point as a child, and he knew they didn’t really do much but hover a few inches off the ground. Still, the small girl was ecstatic and chased it around, flicking it to see how far it’d go.

“When did you get that?” Remus tilted his head, watching as the five-year-old ran off into the next room with the toy. 

“It was James’s,” Sirius explained, grabbing onto Remus’s hand and pulling him into the next room. Babysitting, Remus soon realized, was less daunting than he had initially thought. The first half-hour or so ended up being quite relaxing, in fact. Remus sat on the sofa, his feet tucked under him and a book in his hand. He was reading or attempting to anyway, but he kept looking up to watch Sirius and Nymphadora playing. The two were running around chasing each other around the house, taking turns catching the toy snitch, and at one point were even imitating various creatures and seeing who could do better. They asked Remus to be the judge for this game, and he chose the little girl as the winner each time. Mostly because she was young, but also because she was copying the actual physical features from her children’s book about magical creatures. Watching the two interact was almost like watching James and Sirius interact. They were two bright balls of energy, excitement radiating off of them as they played together. It was this that made Remus think the whole reason Sirius was so good with younger kids was because of their energy. 

“What are you reading?” Nymphadora climbed over the couch, plopping herself down on his lap and looking at the book. Remus huffed at the weight of a child sitting on him, frowning. Sirius laughed at this, coming over to sit down next to them. 

“Uh,” He shifted, lifting his arms so he wouldn’t hit the little girl in the head. “It’s about dragons.” Her hair, which was now pink after the half-hour of play, tinted red slightly, and she made a low, grumbling noise like she was trying to mimic a dragon. Remus laughed at this, closing the book. He was fairly sure the girl could not, in fact, read yet, but the page he was on was about wounds.

“Aw,” She pouted, turning to him with puffed-out cheeks and wide eyes. “I wanted to hear a story.” Remus chuckled again, leaning his head back against the sofa. 

“This isn’t really a story for little kids,” He said. “Maybe we could find something else to read.” This answer, apparently, was not the right answer.

“I’m not that little,” She frowned, and Remus held back a laugh. She looked angry, crossing her arms over her chest, but it really was anything but intimidating considering she was a five-year-old with pink hair. He didn’t say this, though. He was still very wary about the whole crying thing. 

“Well, this book is boring,” Remus urged. “We can find a book that you’ll find more interesting.” Sirius was watching them in amusement, and Nymphadora frowned, looking as if she was thinking it over.

“Okay,” She said finally. “But I like dragons.” Remus sighed, nodding. 

“Yeah, I’m sure we could do that…” He realized, then, he had no idea where they kept their books. Fortunately, Sirius chimed in, saving him from this.

“Let’s make up a story!” He stood up, stretching out his limbs. “We can act out the scenes.” Remus groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Nymphadora, however, grinned and jumped up enthusiastically.

“Like a play?” She asked, grinning. Remus sat up straighter, not getting up until Sirius was leaning over and pulling him up by his hand. Remus pushed himself up, knowing Sirius probably couldn’t pull him up by himself without help.

“Yeah,” Sirius said. “I’ll be the princess.” He pulled his robe off, underneath wearing one of Remus’s jumpers and a pair of dark trousers. He tied the robe around his waist into a makeshift skirt. 

“Princesses don’t have to wear skirts,” Nymphadora said, jumping up onto the coffee table. “They can wear trousers, too.” 

“I know,” Sirius nodded, taking his hair tie out to let it fall around his shoulders. “But I like skirts.” The girl thought about this for a moment before nodding as if to say ‘I’ll allow it.’ She was very smart for a child, Remus noted.

“It looks better than that ugly-ass red skirt you have,” Remus laughed. Sirius threw his arms out dramatically, faking a pout.

“I thought you loved that skirt,” Sirius pouted. Remus chuckled, kissing his cheek.

“I love you,” He said. “And I love how you look in anything, but it is truly hideous.” Sirius laughed, swatting his face away before leaning forward and kissing his cheek back. 

“Fine, fine,” He said. “But you like the black one?” Remus had no idea which one he was talking about; he had two black ones.

“That one looks better on James,” He teased, chuckling. Sirius laughed back, shaking his head. During the interaction, Remus didn’t realize that Nymphadora’s hair was now a fiery-red and her eyes an odd, yellowy colour.

“I’ll be the dragon,” She said, tugging on Remus’s robe. He realized what she wanted, pulling it off and handing it to her. It was a dark, red colour, and it looked well with her hair. It looked ridiculous, though, as she pulled it on. Remus, who usually towered over people and bumped his head in doorways, was definitely not the same size as the small, five-year-old girl. The fabric draped around her, making her look like a little body in a sea of maroon clothing. Remus, as much as he tried not to, laughed at her. Next to him, Sirius chuckled as well.

“You’re so scary,” Sirius said, stifling his laughter into faux fear as he gasped. “The prince is going to have to save me from this scary creature.”

“I’m the prince, aren’t I?” Remus sighed, smiling in amusement as he rolled up his sleeves. Nymphadora’s features shifted slightly, looking more like the dragon drawing from her children’s book. It honestly was kind of scary. 

“Save me, my prince,” Sirius blew a kiss at him, throwing an arm over his forehead dramatically while Nymphadora made another roaring dragon noise. He honestly wasn’t quite sure how they were acting out a story, but the other two seemed to be having fun. 

“I’ll save you,” Remus mumbled, pulling out his wand and waving it around, casting lumos. Nymphadora made a yelping noise, throwing herself to the ground. 

“My weakness!” She said, clutching her stomach. To be honest, her acting was a little too good, and Remus was actually worried for a moment until he heard her giggle underneath his robe. He smiled again, straightening up. 

“You saved me!” Sirius grinned, throwing his arms around Remus’s neck and kissing his cheek sloppily. Remus made a noise, grabbing his head and kissing him firmly, the little girl still under the robe and unable to see them.

“You’re so gross,” Remus said fondly, watching the smile on his boyfriend’s face grow. 

“But you saved me,” He mumbled back, leaning his forehead against his. 

“Yeah,” Remus breathed, looking into his silvery, blue eyes. “I’ll always save you, no matter how stupid and gross you are.” Sirius chuckled, kissing him again. After a too-long moment, Sirius and Remus finally pulled away from where they were stupidly looking into each other's eyes and kissing like idiots. 

“Is she okay?” Sirius’s eyes widened, looking at the lump of robes with fearful, wide eyes. Remus turned, remembering the little girl in the room. He watched it carefully, seeing the fabric move up and down slowly. Warily, he leaned forward and listened. He heard light snores and a low, steady heartbeat. He sighed with relief, nodding.

“She fell asleep,” He whispered back. “I think you wore her out.” 

“Oh,” Sirius breathed out, stepping over and picking up the little girl wrapped in Remus’s robe. “I’ll take her to bed.” 

“Okay,” Remus smiled, watching as Sirius carried the girl across the room. Before leaving, he turned back around and raised his eyebrows.

“Can you wear me out when I get back?” He asked, his voice low and a dumb smirk spread across his face. Remus laughed, rolling his eyes.

“No, your cousin is going to kill us, remember?” He crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows in amusement. Sirius pouted before exiting the room. Remus smiled, walking over to the sofa and sitting down, listening as Sirius carried his cousin to her bedroom and waiting for him to get back. Maybe babysitting wasn’t so bad. 


End file.
